I know Vijay is a talented player and once Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman are gone, they need someone to bolster the middle order but I would rather send Gambhir at 3 than Sehwag down the order simply because of the effect he can have on the opposing team. His wide array of strokes and blistering hitting can snatch the momentum away within the first session and break the opposing team's spirit.

Cricket's moral worldview:

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

First, I'd never move an opener that averages 50+. Those guys are rare as gold. And if you have two of them, I'd keep them both and the good starts would ease the pressure on an inexperinced middle order. Hypothetically though, I would without a doubt move Sehwag out of the two. Down to something like 5. Sehwag is unreal against spin. Scary good - not as good overall as Sachin but not too far behind and probably more destructive.

I know Vijay is a talented player and once Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman are gone, they need someone to bolster the middle order but I would rather send Gambhir at 3 than Sehwag down the order simply because of the effect he can have on the opposing team. His wide array of strokes and blistering hitting can snatch the momentum away within the first session and break the opposing team's spirit.

I'd agree with that. Sehwag is great to have as an opener because he really takes the momentum away form the opposition. The only thing I'd disagree with is putting Gambhir at 3. Gambhir and Sehwag form a great opening partnership and they know each other so well so why break them up?

Once Dravid retires, I'd actually put someone like Murali Vijay or Badrinath at the number 3 position. They are solid batsmen who can bat well if an opener goes early and they both bat very much like Dravid. I think it would be most logical to have either Vijay or Badrinath replace Dravid in the number 3 position and still have Gambhir and Sehwag opening the batting.

And Arun Karthik is coming through the ranks fast too. We at TN seem to produce openers dime a dozen..

We miss you, Fardin. :(. RIP.

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

In the end, I think it's so utterly, incomprehensibly boring. There is so much context behind each innings of cricket that dissecting statistics into these small samples is just worthless. No-one has ever been faced with the same situation in which they come out to bat as someone else. Ever.

First, I'd never move an opener that averages 50+. Those guys are rare as gold. And if you have two of them, I'd keep them both and the good starts would ease the pressure on an inexperinced middle order. Hypothetically though, I would without a doubt move Sehwag out of the two. Down to something like 5. Sehwag is unreal against spin. Scary good - not as good overall as Sachin but not too far behind and probably more destructive.

Dunno, Sehwag invariably has the advantage of already having been batting for 10 or 15 overs before he ever faces any spinners. If you always start your innings against pace and face spin once you're well-set, it's inevitable that you'll look like a better player of spin than of pace.